Woorabinda Healing Country and Gully Remediation
Eroding gullies are a big problem for communities and for land managers like the Woorabinda Rangers, as well as for ecosystems like the Great Barrier Reef. But they can be repaired. Through the Reef Assist program, Greening Australia has been working with the Woorabinda Aboriginal Shire Council, Woorabinda Rangers and technical experts Neilly Group Engineering to:
- Rehabilitate gullies and prevent erosion on Ghungalu/Ghangalu/Gaangalu Country in Central Queensland
- Create employment and training opportunities for community
- Improve water quality for the Great Barrier Reef.
Three different gullies have been repaired using different methods including reshaping, rock chutes, whoa boys and creating bund walls.
Fencing was also installed to exclude stock and vegetation cover is being re-established to hold the land surface together, helping to create healthy water movement across the landscape.
Throughout the project, Ghungalu/Ghangalu/Gaangalu Nation People undertook cultural heritage surveys to ensure cultural heritage values were respected and cared for during the works.
Importantly, the Woorabinda Rangers and a local Indigenous construction business, Ghungalu Investments, were involved in every aspect, including gully repair works, and undertook training so they can maintain the repaired areas and do other rehabilitation work in the future.
This means ongoing positive outcomes for the community and for the Reef.
Roger Leisha, Woorabinda Ranger: “The whole idea for us to get a machinery ticket is to rehabilitate gullies and restore the area. It’s part of our line of work as Rangers, fix up the gullies around Woorabinda out on Country, and it’s part of our healthy country plan.”
Lynise Wearne, Greening Australia Associate Director for Water:
“Working with such a diverse range of people on these projects shows just how interconnected Reef restoration efforts are and need to be. It takes Traditional Owners and Elders, engineers, scientists, ecologists, planners, policy makers, government officials, machine operators and Shire Councils all working together to make this kind of impact.”
This project was funded through the $33.5 million Reef Assist program under the Queensland Government’s Queensland Reef Water Quality Program. The Reef Assist program delivers environmental projects and creates regional jobs for Queenslanders in the Great Barrier Reef catchment.